Audience: AdultsREVIEWER: Eric
Rice“Mary Magdalene was a
woman of poor repute who found
salvation for her ways though
years of toil and service as
penance for her
sins.”That’s a key
statement early on in THE
MAGDALENE SISTERS, a gut
wrenching, powerful, well made
movie that too well portrays
the theme of “man’s
inhumanity to man,” set in
the framework of Catholic
Women’s “asylums” in
Ireland during the mid 1960s.
The Magdalene Sisters’
“Laundries” were
institutions where “fallen
women” could be taken by
their parents or priests and
taught piety through
instruction and hard work.The
movie is backed and endorsed
by a victim’s group called
SNAP, which represents people
who have been molested by
priests. The Vatican and the
Roman Catholic Church are
mixed over the film in that
the facts of abuse at the
hands of priests and nuns
appear to be well documented,
but it sheds a terrible light
on the church to have it
dragged onto the screen in
such an overt, chilling
manner.As Christians, we are
often targets of terrible
movies, and the abuses of a
small minority are exposed in
a way that seems universal and
the rule rather than the
exception. Yet we as
Christians are supposed to be
“in the light,” examining
ourselves and judging within
the household of God, and
repentance and revival do
start with God’s own
people.THE MAGDALENE SISTERS
follows the lives of three
Irish girls in 1964 and their
journey into the hell known as
“The Magdalene Sisters
Laundry.” Though the girls
are not real, their stories
are supposed to represent a
conglomerate of true
stories.One of the girls,
Margaret, is raped by her
cousin at a dance. She tells
her family who seem to get to
the bottom of it. A day or two
later she is roughly awakened
by her father, who says,
“You! Get up!” and
basically throws her into a
car with the local priest (who
was one of the musicians at
the dance), and she is driven
away as her little brother
cries out after her.The second
girl, Bernadette, is a sultry,
sharp-tongued, beauty who
flirts with the local boys
through a fence at a Catholic
Orphanage where she lives. She
is suddenly shipped away
without apparently doing
anything wrong. Rose is the
third girl, who though gentle
and kind, is seen in a
hospital holding her new,
bastard son as her mother sits
by and stoically refuses to
look at her or the baby. Soon
a priest arrives and she is
strongly pressured by her
father into giving up her baby
for adoption. Her now silent
father holds her as she
screams and cries as the
priest takes her baby away.All
three girls are brought
together at the “Magdalene
Sisters” asylum where they
soon learn that their only
salvation comes from hard
work, silence, and penance for
their sins. They are
considered “hookers and
whores” by the outsiders and
treated like scum by the nuns
on the inside.At this point
the movie becomes a “prison
film” where the viewer sees
how terrible the place is, how
sick and wicked the head nun
is, and how all hope is lost.
Apparently, a girl could be
interned in one of the
laundries for being poor,
“in moral danger,”
orphaned, a rape victim, or
unwed mother. The horror is
that unless released by a
priest or relative, the women
were interned for life!The
three girls are subject to
head shearing, beatings,
terrible food, rough clothing,
simple beds, and much
psychological torture. In the
course of the movie, one woman
tries to commit suicide and is
seen having sex with a priest.
The women are lined up and
forced to jog in place naked,
then a huge, evil, smiling nun
makes fun of their physical
features and when one of them
starts sobbing, says,
“It’s only a game.” The
girls are taught to believe
that they are “supposed to
suffer” and see the effects
on older inmates as they are
without hope and life.
Eventually, two of the girls
escape, and one is released
simply because her parents
thought that four years was
enough.The film has all the
language, nudity, violence you
would expect from a woman’s
prison movie, as well as
having wicked nuns as the
“warden” and “prison
guards.” THE MAGDALENE
SISTERS is a painful
expression of a twisted
system. Many thousands of
women were interred in the
laundries, and true suffering
did occur. That this film was
made to show the injustice and
cruelty of the asylums is
understandable in that they
should never happen again, but
it is regrettable that the
many good deeds of godly,
kind, self-sacrificing sisters
are not shown. Regrettably,
this movie will turn many
people who see it away from
the loving God who wants to
save them from this
evil.Please address your
comments to:Bob and Harvey
WeinsteinCo-ChairmenMiramax
Films375 Greenwich StreetNew
York, NY 10013Phone: (323)
822-4100 & (212) 941-3800Fax:
(212) 941-3846Website:
www.miramax.com

Content:

(AbAbAb, L, VV, SS, NNN, MM) Anti-Christian, anti-Roman Catholic worldview depicting the church as a place of horror and abuse; language includes about six obscenities; violence includes whipping with a strap and a cane, hair shearing that draws blood, forceful shoving, etc.; sex includes depictions of girl fornicating with priest; nudity includes girl hiking dress to show a young man her private parts and nun making girls jog in place naked with full frontal nudity; and, psychological torture and perversion of true church and God’s true purposes through numerous abuses.

GENRE: Drama

AbAbAb

L

VV

SS

NNN

MM

Summary:

THE MAGDALENE SISTERS exposes the abuses and injustices of young ladies at the hands of priests and nuns in the 1960s. Filled with disturbing scenes, language, sex and nudity, this film is a horrendous portrayal of the perversions the enemy brings to God’s purposes through His church.

Review:

“Mary Magdalene was a woman of poor repute who found salvation for her ways though years of toil and service as penance for her sins.”

That’s a key statement early on in THE MAGDALENE SISTERS, a gut wrenching, powerful, well made movie that too well portrays the theme of “man’s inhumanity to man,” set in the framework of Catholic Women’s “asylums” in Ireland during the mid 1960s. The Magdalene Sisters’ “Laundries” were institutions where “fallen women” could be taken by their parents or priests and taught piety through instruction and hard work.

The movie is backed and endorsed by a victim’s group called SNAP, which represents people who have been molested by priests. The Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church are mixed over the film in that the facts of abuse at the hands of priests and nuns appear to be well documented, but it sheds a terrible light on the church to have it dragged onto the screen in such an overt, chilling manner.

As Christians, we are often targets of terrible movies, and the abuses of a small minority are exposed in a way that seems universal and the rule rather than the exception. Yet we as Christians are supposed to be “in the light,” examining ourselves and judging within the household of God, and repentance and revival do start with God’s own people.

THE MAGDALENE SISTERS follows the lives of three Irish girls in 1964 and their journey into the hell known as “The Magdalene Sisters Laundry.” Though the girls are not real, their stories are supposed to represent a conglomerate of true stories.

One of the girls, Margaret, is raped by her cousin at a wedding. She tells her family who seem to get to the bottom of it. A day or two later she is roughly awakened by her father, who says, “You! Get up!” and basically throws her into a car with the local priest (who was one of the musicians at the dance), and she is driven away as her little brother cries out after her.

The second girl, Bernadette, is a sultry, sharp-tongued, beauty who flirts with the local boys through a fence at a Catholic Orphanage where she lives. She is suddenly shipped away without apparently doing anything wrong.

Rose is the third girl, who though gentle and kind, is seen in a hospital holding her new, bastard son as her mother sits by and stoically refuses to look at her or the baby. Soon a priest arrives and she is strongly pressured by her father into giving up her baby for adoption. Her now silent father holds her as she screams and cries as the priest takes her baby away.

All three girls are brought together at the “Magdalene Sisters” asylum where they soon learn that their only salvation comes from hard work, silence, and penance for their sins. They are considered “hookers and whores” by the outsiders and treated like scum by the nuns on the inside.

At this point the movie becomes a “prison film” where the viewer sees how terrible the place is, how sick and wicked the head nun is, and how all hope is lost. Apparently, a girl could be interned in one of the laundries for being poor, “in moral danger,” orphaned, a rape victim, or unwed mother. The horror is that unless released by a priest or relative, the women were interned for life!

The three girls are subject to head shearing, beatings, terrible food, rough clothing, simple beds, and much psychological torture. In the course of the movie, one woman tries to commit suicide and is seen having sex with a priest. The women are lined up and forced to jog in place naked, then a huge, evil, smiling nun makes fun of their physical features and when one of them starts sobbing, says, “It’s only a game.” The girls are taught to believe that they are “supposed to suffer” and see the effects on older inmates as they are without hope and life. Eventually, two of the girls escape, and one is released simply because her parents thought that four years was enough.

The film has all the language, nudity, violence you would expect from a woman’s prison movie, as well as having wicked nuns as the “warden” and “prison guards.” THE MAGDALENE SISTERS is a painful expression of a twisted system. Many thousands of women were interred in the laundries, and true suffering did occur. That this film was made to show the injustice and cruelty of the asylums is understandable in that they should never happen again, but it is regrettable that the many good deeds of godly, kind, self-sacrificing sisters are not shown. Regrettably, this movie will turn many people who see it away from the loving God who wants to save them from this evil.

Please address your comments to:

Bob and Harvey Weinstein

Co-Chairmen

Miramax Films

375 Greenwich Street

New York, NY 10013

Phone: (323) 822-4100 & (212) 941-3800

Fax: (212) 941-3846

Website: www.miramax.com

SUMMARY: THE MAGDALENE SISTERS exposes the abuses and injustices of young ladies at the hands of priests and nuns in the 1960s. Filled with disturbing scenes, language, sex and nudity, this film is a horrendous portrayal of the perversions the enemy brings to God’s purposes through His church.